Would be stupid imo. I don't even understand why they can use fist weapons. Should've been Axes and Maces only ...

If anything, I think that fist weapons make the most sense for enhancement shaman out of any class. I mean look at the of the fist weapons out there the molten fury fist weapons out of Hyjal match our tier set perfectly. On the other hand though, I do not understand why they added strength fist weapons to the game. Fist weapons should primarily be a agil user weapon.

For looks. Why else?
Transmogrification has been one of the most explosively successful additions to the game; alot of people obviously care about how their character looks. If they want more possible looks, more power to them.

If we're going to go for this on a lore perspective, I recall them saying things that they only use weapons that have another use.

Daggers: they can be purely cosmetic, or could use it for skinning, cutting things (not people) and witch doctors used to have them as well for certain traditions / rituals.
Maces: used as a hammer to build, as well as destroy.
Axes: used to chop trees for wood for warmth and shelter, as well as lopping off heads.
Fist Weapons: ...........keep hands warm? (seriously no clue here, perhaps another ritualistic thing like daggers.)

I want this so bad, ever since they made it completely unviable. Also, I don't understand people's fascination with shaman and swords. To me it just doesn't really seem to fit into the picture. It would be like seeing a rogue with a 2h mace.

Another thing that gets me is the general chat when inside the Garrison. It totally reminds me of every prison film I've ever watched. The prisoners confined to their cells are talking to each other through the walls. Their chat is mostly pointless, vulgar and revolving around stuff they ll do once they get out. This is EXACTLY the content of every Garrison chat I've ever had to tolerate.

If we're going to go for this on a lore perspective, I recall them saying things that they only use weapons that have another use.

Daggers: they can be purely cosmetic, or could use it for skinning, cutting things (not people) and witch doctors used to have them as well for certain traditions / rituals.
Maces: used as a hammer to build, as well as destroy.
Axes: used to chop trees for wood for warmth and shelter, as well as lopping off heads.
Fist Weapons: ...........keep hands warm? (seriously no clue here, perhaps another ritualistic thing like daggers.)

Swords are used purely as a weapon, nothing else.

Shamans are a primal class. You can picture them as a primitive kind of spell caster.
That doesn't mean though that their weapons all have to have ties to stone age tools.
A shaman doesn't chop trees, cut skin/leather or dead flesh, hunt or fish with his weapons. They are not tools.

An enhancement shaman is a spiritual warrior. He goes to war and uses his weapons primarily to kill people. And it shouldn't matter wether or not that weapon is a mace, axe or sword, so long as it gets the job done. Out of a purely practical POV, swords for a shaman make much more sense than low versatility axes/maces do for a rogue, who favours silent movement, quick strikes which are hard with heavy weapons to pull of, thrusts (which are impossible with a mace/axe) and stuff like being easily conceilable under cloaks/in boots and the like.
Axes are not really a "monk-esque" weapon either, just for the record.
A sword is a very versatile weapon, and trolls have used them long before taurens and orcs even existed. Doesn't make any sense for a shaman to not weild a perfectly viable weapon tbh.

I wonder how both other slow agi 1h user classes disregard lore/style in favour of a brouder selection of equipment, but shamans have to stick with a tradition born from a never written law saying that shamans are bound to use primitive weapons. Blizz withheld axes from rogues and swords from shamans from a lore/style perspective, yes. But also to create weapon balance between all classes (warriors being the exception), making it so that there would be gaps in every class in what they could weild, to make gear a little more individual. They changed that way of going about it when they gave rogues axes though, and they continued in that direction with monks. All that's left is to complete the set with shamans getting swords.
Also, enh has often suffered itemisation-wise from not being able to weild swords. It was hard getting your hands on good enh weapons throughout bc (much easier getting your hands on swords), in wotlk axes didn't really exist until colloseum, with fists still being mh/oh only, leaving us to the few maces that existed. We also encountered it through missing reputation weapon options in bc, crafting options in cata and MoP and weapon options in 4.0. All in all, giving enhancement swords would be a win-win-win-win situation.

You're not even completely right about swords being purely a weapon per se (at least not ingame), because as a mage/warlock, you wont swing them around at all, defeating the purpose of their blade and sharp edge and pointy end.
Even aknowledging the argument of swords serving as weapons only from a purely functional perspective, it is all an enhancement shaman looks for in a weapon.
Shamans cannot weild spears and bows, althought they (by the primal attribute) should be able to. They can weild staves and daggers, but merely do so for decoration purposes. I fail to see the problem with using swords except when looking at them from a style POV, and even then, my above picture shows that swords can be very shamanistic and at the end of the day, can still be mogged into an axe or mace fi the person in question deemed swords as not fitting.

Last edited by Omanley; 2013-01-30 at 11:43 AM.

Originally Posted by Angoth

I'm sorry that Blizzard won't just gift wrap awesome in a cup and let you drink your fill.

Only Enhancement needs swords just for the sake of having more choices available to them. Although Blizzard seem to be addressing the "no shaman weapons" in MoP.
Daggers are completely useless for Enhancement which is why they deserve swords to make up for it. Or to make daggers a viable choice. I would personally prefer daggers to be viable, it could allow for different play styles, rather than just swapping a 2.6 for a 2.6, similar to how 'Titans Grip' and 'Single Minded Fury' work for Fury Warriors. Also by adding viability for Enhancement Shamans to use daggers it would alleviate some of the bullshit about rogues being the ONLY class who need agility daggers making them slightly more wanted in boss loot tables.

Ele and Resto do not need swords, they already have good choices for weapon drops with maces and daggers.

Edit: If Blizzard were to do anything about giving Enhancement Shamans another weapon choice, it's more likely that they would flip the switch to allow them to use swords then it is for them to make daggers a viable choice.
It's just easier for them. Which is a shame.

All in all, giving enhancement swords would be a win-win-win-win situation.

I do agree with this, makes the itemisation a shit ton easier for blizzard too.

I was just saying something I read a long long time ago on the forums asking this exact same question giving shamans the ability to use swords. Wasn't expecting such a vast reply haha!

Though it seems that swords are being more and more phased out and replaced by agility axes / fist weapons. Was there even an epic one hand agility sword in the current raids at all?

Will be interesting to see if 5.2 has one in the loot table or not, I would assume not since it has to cater to enhancement, monks and rogues, and their common ground are axes and fist weapons. (Orc racial paradise...)